Shooting for, or at, the Ideal.

There are no greater ideals than what is taught by Jesus in the Bible. and these ideals are in perfect balance. In a culture with a disappearing morality the next generation could be even worse barbarians. Our world is suffering from nothingness and what follows are many health issues. “Carl Jung, the great psychiatrist, said, ‘The central neurosis of our time is emptiness.’ Human nature, simply can’t stand emptiness and meaninglessness. It get jumpy, jittery, goes to pieces.” (E. Stanley Jones)

If you want to find fault with Christians to justify your sin and make yourself, feel better about your self it is not difficult to do so. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) Besides myself do you know any perfect people? This obviously is a little joke. Jesus said many things that are beyond our human ability and only when we are walking fully in life in God is this possible. However, in heaven we will be without even the presence of sin, if we are in Christ. We however, are likely to take the progress of our character with us.

There are people who like to justify their self-righteousness and or sin and they sit at the sidelines and their job is to find fault with others. They are in the ministry of condemnation. They throw stones from the sidelines. They never get on the playing field they are just critics from the benches who say they are just helping out by their criticism. Their self esteem comes from thinking they are just as good or better than others. After all they have found people not living up to the ideal. This is the practice of the true cynics. It doesn’t matter that they are not living up to the heart ideals, they just want to feel good about themselves by condemning others.

The ideal is not even possible to live, without the grace of God. That is why the non-Christian and the uninformed Christian who is still operating in the old man (Ephesians 4:22) believes and practices that the ideal is not achievable, so why even try. They are just happy to find fault with others and try to bring them down to their level. Any even small infraction is an obsession against others. They can also justify not striving for the ideal, by saying no one is perfect.

Of course, we preach and teach the ideal with a strong conviction to living it out in God’s grace. Yet, none of us have attained it, not even the Apostle Paul. Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12). The Apostle Paul however, came for close to the ideal.

Jesus often spoke of the ideal and instead of falling into legalism and often making it a law we should understand the generalization that he was speaking against or for. When Jesus encountered the woman caught in adultery and according to Old Testament law she was to be stoned to death. Actually, both the man and woman where to be stoned to death. (Leviticus 20:10). However, this was not practiced by the Jewish people in Jesus time period, somewhat, because they were under Roman rule. Jesus in a sense changed that law that was there to protect God’s people in the Old Testament and society in their development from personal and cultural evil. It is to save man from sinful self destruction. Jesus said to those who brought the woman caught in adultery, “He who is without sin among be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). However, Jesus wasn’t endorsing sin or adultery. He also said to her, “And from now on sin no more (v.11). Grace is never a hall pass to deliberate sin. Wilful sin and then asking forgiveness afterward is very insulting to the ideal and to God.

The cynics wanted to throw stones, but they had not dealt with sin in their own life. This is especially true of the non-Christian who thinks that by their own good behavior outweighing their bad behavior they will be right with God and go to heaven when they die. This is not true and a great and common deception. The only way to heaven is by God unmerited grace and it is received by true repentance of sin and faith in what Jesus did on the cross for all those who receive him as savior and Lord. To the Christian that tends toward legalism and cynicism Jesus says, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye” (John 7:3-5). Let us not be hypocrites as Jesus instructed.

As a Christian are you going for the ideal or have you given up? We certainly cannot live the ideal without God’s grace. Are we listening to God or the condemnation of the devil and people? We will not reach the ideal living under condemnation. As the Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) “Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit)” This is affirmed in other scriptures, similar to what this scripture states: “Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight” (Proverbs 26:2). Give the devil no room to bind us. Sin enslaves us and dishonors God. Walking in the flesh brings the condemnation of the devil, and it is difficult or impossible to resist in the flesh. Evil takes root and is difficult to root out when it becomes part of our personhood.

Are we a cynic or a cheer leader? Do we add to people’s lives or knock them down to your level? The world’s culture is famous today for taking no responsibility for their own life, but blaming it all on others. Do we add to people’s lives or use them and manipulate them for our success? Jesus said, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Has your love and faith grown cold? Are you a negative Nelly? Have you stopped praying and reading your Bible? You can be restored and renewed in Christ. There is mercy, kindness and love at the foot of the cross.

How are we to respond when people are users, condemning, selfish and ungrateful. This is what Jesus said we should do: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). Let the life of God flow in you and out to self and others. “"To understand Jesus' teachings, we must realize that deep in orientations of our spirit we cannot have one posture toward God and a different one toward other people." Dallas Willard. (1 John 3:10)

Even the Old Testament says something similar, “Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!” (Psalm 109:28). The Apostle Paul said as Jesus taught, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14).

This ideal is possible in Jesus Christ. However let us condemn others who are less than the ideal because we would also have to condemn ourselves.

Some hold leaders to a higher standard than just being a Christian. However, both the leader and all people have the highest of standard in Jesus Christ. As the scripture states, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10). God holds teachers to a higher standard on judgement day; however, he hasn’t given his job over to you or me in the meantime. As the Bible states, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). Lift one another up.

Do you believe in the ideal or not. Do you believe you can be perfect or come close or closer each day to the ideal in Christ? If we do not believe this in Christ than we are living a life of a cynic and will be constantly finding fault with others and have given up on life in God. Let us encourage one another which is the grand adventure and walk in his extravagant grace and power. Let us go with the abundant grace of God for the ideal in Christ. Let us not shoot at it. There are enough none Christians and cynics shooting at it.

Let us learn His way of truly living. It is all about life in God.